


This Way Is Home

by zuuloo



Category: Blue Lock (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, kunigiri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26216149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zuuloo/pseuds/zuuloo
Summary: All his life Chigiri wanted to be seen as an average kind of guy, so when all of a sudden a mysterious tattoo shows up on his arm, his life flips a 180.
Relationships: Chigiri Hyouma/Kunigami Rensuke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	This Way Is Home

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the #bllkexchange on twitter. Make sure you go and check out other people's work!

All of his life Chigiri has tried his best to be perfect. He always listened to his parents, never talked back to his elders, and hung around the people he knew would make a positive influence on him. He even denied anything he wanted to do that seemed out of the ordinary just so he could be flawless in everybody’s eyes, so when he turned 16, he was very confused at the set of words randomly tattooed on his arm, definitely far from ordinary. 

Chigiri didn’t feel like he needed to tell anyone about the words on his arm, he himself was unaware of what they were. He did ask his friends if they had drawn on him while he was dozing off in class as a prank, but none of them said they did anything of the sort. Why did this happen today, to him? Out of all the days, it had to be his birthday didn’t it. Chigiri asked his teacher if he could excuse himself from the classroom. He walked down the empty hallway and arrived at the office. He asked the front desk ladies to see a nurse in the back, and they luckily obliged. He opened the door, sat down and pulled his sleeve on his arm up showcasing the written letters. 

“Can you tell me what this is?” Chigiri asked the nurse.

The nurse stared at his wrist “It looks like a bunch of words to me” he responded blatantly.

Chigiri gave him a deadpan glare. “Yes Ego- I mean Mr. Jinpachi, I know that,” he huffed. “But they just showed up randomly today and won’t come off.”

“Hmmmm.”

Ego turned his back to Chigiri and rummaged through his cabinet. He picked up a couple of books and blew the dust off of them which caused Chigiri to start coughing. Chigiri just sat awkwardly waiting for him to tell him what was going on. 

“You said you just turned 16?”

“Yes.”

“And the letters just appeared today?”

“Yes, again.”

“Ah, well in that case, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Ego started. “You my friend have gotten your soulmate mark.”

“My...what?” Chigiri questioned.

“It’s your soulmate mark,” he stated again. “It is a temporary tattoo that stays on your arm until you meet your soulmate.”

The long-haired male was still confused. “Okay, but what do the words _mean_ exactly?”

“This means that these words are a part of the first thing your soulmate will say to you.”

…

‘ _WHAT_ ’ Chigiri thought to himself. Soulmate? Why had he not known about this before, is this a common thing? Did everyone have a soulmate mark? If so, why is he just finding out about it now? Did his friends have them too? Well, he is the oldest in his friend group to be fair, but still, he had never heard about this before today.

“Is it common for people to have this tattoo?” He gulped.

“No actually,” Ego responded. “Only around 20 percent of the world have the marks to find their one true soulmate, the rest of us have to find people to date on our own so consider yourself lucky.” 

Chigiri hummed to himself, “Lucky…”

“Yes you heard me, now get out of my office.” Ego pointed his finger to the exit.

All Chigiri could think about today was the mark on his arm. He didn’t know if he should tell his friends what happened to him or not. Would they think it’s weird for him to have this? He will keep it to myself for now. He went through the rest of the day wondering if he really was lucky or if this soulmate thing would be a burden. Is he supposed to fall in love with his soulmate right from the start? Won’t it be awkward at their first meeting? Would he- no she, yeah she be able to like Chigiri back?

Chigiri finally headed home; as soon as he opened the door he found his parents sitting in the living room, they looked like they just got off the phone with someone not too long ago. 

“Hey you guy-”

“Chigiri!” His mom yelled, I heard you have some exciting news to tell us,” she smiled.

“Uh yeah, I guess…” his voice trailed off.

Chigiri wasn’t sure how his parents would react. He was pretty sure they met naturally without any of that soulmate crap. They were normal, just like most of the world, so why did he have to be like this? Ego said he considered himself lucky but he still couldn’t help feeling like something may go wrong later on.

“Well, aren’t you gonna share?” his father asked which broke Chigiri out of his trance.

“Oh yeah, right um,” he started. “So basically I have words written on my arm and they are the first words my soulmate will say to me.” He figured that phone call they were on was with the school, so Chigiri settled with a short summary.

“Oh my!” His mother gasped. “This is amazing!”

Chigiri was still contemplating about how to feel about everything. “It...is?”

“Yes, of course it is,” his dad pitched in. “I bet the girl you find will be absolutely amazing.”

Chigiri flinched at those words. ‘Girl, yeah totally,’ he thought to himself. It is not like he didn’t find girls attractive, he had always found them pretty, but never had any emotional or romantic attraction for them. He never had any girlfriends growing up either. His mom said it was because he was too young to understand dating but Chigiri was 90% sure that was not the reason. It’s not like he’s dated guys in comparison, but he did have small crushes on them when he was younger. The first time he told his mom he liked one of his friends, she ignored him and later introduced him to a girl he could possibly date; that’s when Chigiri realized he shouldn’t act upon his feelings. He wasn’t angry at his mom, more like angry at himself. He loved his parents, because of that he never wanted to disappoint them. He tried to get a girlfriend to satisfy them, but no matter what he couldn’t force himself to love somebody.

‘ _This mark can be a good thing_ ,’ Chigiri thought. ‘I’ll _have_ to fall in love with her right?’ he exhaled. He figured he should be happy for the situation he’s in, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. 

Though his parents staring at him intensely may cause him to think otherwise. 

“Yes?” He asked wondering why they were looking at him 

“What does your tattoo say?” They asked simultaneously. 

‘ _Oh right, tha_ t’

He took off his jacket and showed them his wrist which read. “Are you okay?”

* * *

Chigiri never thought about how vague those three words really were. All it took was one bump into someone, or a possible injury for someone to ask such a simple question. His parents didn’t help either about his internal qualms surrounding the tattoo. They started to care less about Chigiri’s opinions and more on how presentable he looked for his future partner.

“You never know when you may meet her, first impressions are everything” is what his father told him. Although Chigiri can agree on that in some aspects, he parents are starting to take it a little too far now. 

It was first just how he got ready in the morning, his parents made him wake up early and clean up nice. Then it started with the type of clothes Chigiri wore, after that it was his personality and how proper he spoke to people because he had to be perfect whenever he met his soulmate.

He could only handle the consistent nagging from his parents for so long, but when his father mentioned the last thing he wanted to change, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You should probably quit football too,” his father blurted out. “It’s a distraction and your future wife won’t want to deal with those things.”

It had been a long two years since Chigiri had told them about his soulmate mark, he was now a senior in high school. He didn’t ever tell his friends about his mark, they’d probably laugh at the fact that he’s embarrassed by something like this. He also did not want to hear about his future soulmate 24/7 at school like he does at home. While his mom was pestering a lot, she at least gave him the freedom to make his own choices. His father on the other hand used more forceful tactics. Chigiri knew they didn't mean any harm, but he wishes they could relax just a little bit. He thought this soulmate thing meant finding love would happen naturally, but it has put even more stress on himself.

“Dad, I can’t do that,” Chigiri replied. “You know how much football means to me.”

“Oh but sweetie,” his mom chimed in. “We want your soulmate to be comfortable around you, you don’t want her to be scared off with all your crazy football talk.”

Chigiri turned to look at his mother. “What the fuck mom, you too?”

“Chigiri!” He heard his dad yell. “Watch your language, what if your soulmate hear-”

“No that’s your problem!” he interjected. “Everyday for the past two years all I’ve heard about is my soulmate. You guys never ask how I feel about this, you only care about how I will look to other people.”

“Yes honey but we just-” 

“No, stop,” he cut her off. “I am not supposed to be thinking about love constantly.” He started to rant. “And what if-- what if I don’t meet them anytime soon huh? I could be 80 and find my soulmate so maybe, I don't know, I should focus on myself for now and wait to fall in love naturally! I can date whoever I want, I don’t have to waste my life span waiting for somebody to come to me, you guys sound fucking crazy!”

“Why haven’t you told us how you felt before?” His mom sat next to him and put her hands on his back.

“Why haven’t I told you? WHY HAVEN’T I TOLD YOU???” He raised his voice. “You guys haven’t even given me the chance to speak without me feeling like I’m suffocating myself!”

“Chigiri, please calm down, let’s talk about this.”

Chigiri clenched his fist. “Oh you want to talk about it now? What about the times where you made me pull all-nighters for etiquette classes, or the time I couldn’t hang out with my friends cause I had to go shopping for fancy clothes, or even the time you made me cut my hair?”

His father cleared his throat, “Those things were all for your well-being.”

He responded to that with a dry laugh, “Of course, of course they were for my well-being,” he put of finger quotations emphasizing the 'well-being.' “You just don’t want to admit that you’re a narcissistic asshole that only thinks of yourself.”

“You're being extremely disrespectful to your mother and I,” his father spat.

“I'm sorry about that, but frankly, I don’t care right now,” he shot back. “I need a break.” He grabbed his coat and quickly walked to the door.

“Where are you going?” he heard his mother call out. 

“None of your business!” He shouted back and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

It had been an hour since Chigiri left his house, it started raining and all he had on him was his debit card, his ID and his phone. 

He feels bad for talking to his parents like that, he really does, but he is 18 now and they still haven't gotten off of his back.They wouldn’t let him date anyone because they might interfere with his soulmate, and he was barely allowed to hand out with his friends because they may be bad influences, or scared his soulmate away.

Soulmate this, soulmate that.

It was all so stupid.

Maybe he should have told his parents how he felt long ago, it wasn’t all their fault. He had to take some of the blame.

“Shit” said to himself. Now he was all alone in the rain with nobody to go to. He had to cut his friends off ever since he dedicated his life to his future soulmate, and his friends weren’t the type of people to forgive and forget. 

“This fucking sucks,” he choked out. He was on the verge of tears. He walked around in the rain for a couple of minutes. He passed by a couple of fast food restaurants and hangouts where he and his friends used to go. He can’t even remember the last time he talked or at least texted them. 

So when he heard the sounds of faint laughter from behind him, he couldn’t help but panic slightly. He roughly turned his head around and could see his friends about to pass the corner to wear he was standing, he made a break for it and ran around the corner in front of him. He was still looking behind him until he crashed into a trashcan in front of him.

“Fuck, my knee.” He sat down on the sidewalk, and tucked his head into his knees. ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ he mumbled to himself as he quietly sobbed.

He heard someone walking up next to him and Chigiri didn’t have the physical or mental strength to care at this point until he heard three words come out of their mouth.

“Are you okay?” the person said.

Chigiri stopped crying and looked up to see a tall man with ginger colored hair looking down at him and a hand extended for Chigiri to take. The pink haired male’s eyes widened at the sudden realization of what he just said and all he could reply with was:

“What the hell?” his mouth slipped.

The other man stiffened up at Chigiri's words and looked down at his wrist. They both looked at how their tattoos were slowly fading from their arms which could only mean one thing.

This was Chigiri’s soulmate. 

“Holy fuck,” The taller man muttered as he looked at his arm and then back down at Chigiri. He cleared his throat once more before he spoke once more “I guess I should introduce myself uh, hi, my name is Kunigami Rensuke.” he smiled.

Chigiri was still in a daze, trying to put the puzzle pieces together in his head, but he could only focus on one thing.

“You...you’re a _guy_ ,” he blurted out.

Kunigami lightly chuckled and gave a smile which made Chigiri’s heart flutter a little, “Yeah I am, why wouldn’t I be?” His nose scrunched up. Chigiri realized his hand was still there waiting for him to grab, so he took it, stood up and wiped any dust from his pants or shirt that was on the concrete.

“Nothing, I just didn’t expect my soulmate to be …” he paused, not knowing if he sounded rude or not

“A guy?” Kunigami finished for him.

Chigiri’s face reddened up from embarrassment. “Sorry, yeah, a guy.” 

“Is that a problem?” The other male asked, and he looked genuine when asking, almost as if _he_ felt bad for Chigiri, which made Chigiri feel even more guilty.

“No?” he sighed. “I don’t know, I never thought I would be into men so I am a little surprised.” That was a lie, Chigiri knew he didn’t like women so this should really be no surprise to him, but after all these years of being conditioned by his parents to think he would meet some cute petite girl, of course he needs a minute for him to properly understand.

Wait.

_Wait_.

His parents, oh my god. What would they think about this. He already lashed out on him once, if they find out his soulmate is a man...Chigiri doesn’t _want_ to find out what they would do. 

“Would you like to get something to eat?” Kunigami interrupted his thoughts. 

Chigiri pondered on it for a couple of seconds, “Uh yeah sure.”

Chigiri can not tell you what it was about this man, but he seemed so trustworthy. At least trustworthy enough for him to get in some guy he just met’s car. He feels at ease when he is around Kunigami, though that sounds foolish since they’ve only known each other for five minutes. They had exchanged names with each other but other than that, all Chigiri had gotten from the boy was his age, 18 just like him.

They stopped at one of the restaurants Chigiri passed earlier when he was running away from his friends and he hoped they weren’t anywhere to be found now.

“So Chigiri, tell me more about yourself,” Kunigami said once they had received their food. “What do you like to do for fun?”

“I like to play football,” he said before taking a bite into his food, all he got was a grilled sandwich. He didn’t want to be too expensive on their first date(???).

The other boy’s eyes lit up at his response. “No way! What position do you play, I’m a striker.”

Chigiri started to enjoy the atmosphere created a bit more, “I’m a striker too..” he told him, “...football is like my safe haven, a place to escape all my problems.”

“I hear ya, it is definitely a stress reliever.” Kunigami said and Chigiri hummed in reply.

“You know what...” Chigiri started. “I bet I could beat you in a one on one if we ever played.” he smirked, ‘I _definitely feel more relaxed’_ he thought. 

“Eh? Is that a challenge?” Kunigami let out a low laugh. “We are definitely playing in the future then if your skills are as good as you say.” he grinned.

“Yeah they are, I’m totally gonna kick your ass,” Chigiri smiled triumphantly with his hands across his chest.

They proceeded with eating their food but Kunigami’s words stayed on Chigiri’s mind. 

_‘In the future, in the future, in the future_ ’

He was going to be with the man in front of him for possibly the rest of his life, and that was a little scary.

“Can I ask you something?” Chigiri said.

“Sure, go right ahead.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that your soulmate is a guy? Like- my parents always told me that I should be with a girl so I just thought- but now you’re here, and you aren’t a girl obviously, but the thing is I never liked girls before but I know I’m supposed to but I can’t no matter how much I try, is there something wrong with me?” 

There was silence in the air for a couple of seconds until Chigiri heard an exhale from the male across for him.

“Chigiri,” he took his hand. “I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with you.” caressed his hand. “There are many guys who don’t like girls and only like guys, that doesn’t mean you aren’t normal.” Chigiri couldn’t say anything, all he could do was listen, all he _wanted_ to do was listen. 

“I like you, do you think there’s something wrong with me?” Kunigami asked.

“No but-” 

“But?” He interjected.

Chigiri exhaled, “I thought it would be easier for you to like me because people tend to tell me I have a pretty face and all.” he said honestly before the sudden realization.

“Ah! Sorry, I hope I didn’t sound full of myself, but that is..what I’ve heard..” Chigiri covered his red face to hide his embarrassment. All Kunigami did was laugh lightheartedly at his statement.

“I definitely can’t deny that you have a pretty face, mine’s cuter though is it not?” He stroke a pose bringing finger guns to his face.

“Pfffft, you wish,” he laughed. “You strike me as more of a handsome prince than cute.”

“That’s a lot of talk for someone as princess looking as you.” He smirked.

Chigiri filled his spoon with a bit of the food he had left and formed a catapult with his fingers. “You take that back!” He laughed. “I am not afraid to throw this at you.”

Kunigami raised his hands up in defense and smiled, “Woah, Woah, let’s not get too hasty, please, have mercy!” Chigiri couldn’t stop laughing.

Kunigami feels a light kick to his leg under the table. “What was that for?” he asked.

“If I can’t throw food at you, I need to do _something_ to get my payback.” Chigiri says so innocently that it made Kunigami forget that he was just jabbed in the leg. They both laughed and laughed so much that people around them started to stare, their muffled giggles from them trying to quiet down didn’t help either because that made Chigiri want to laugh even harder.

He can’t remember the last time someone comforted him and made him feel like he was perfectly fine. Even before he knew what a soulmate mark was, he doesn’t remember ever feeling like this. I guess that is the purpose of it all, your soulmate that is. Chigiri thought that it would be awkward or he wouldn’t know what to do or how to react to his future partner, but it is all coming together now. When you have a soulmate, it feels like a single soul inhabiting two bodies, and now he finally understands that.

“We’re soulmates,” he said in awe.

“Yeah, we are,” Kunigami gave him a reassuring smile.

Chigiri paused and his finger tapped his chin.

“Ugh, I have to apologize to my parents.”

“Is that why you were crying when I found you?” Kunigami asked.

“Yes, I kinda maybe lashed out on them, they were going overboard on me finding my soulmate and wanted me to look absolutely perfect when I met them.” He said. “They wanted me to be absolutely flawless, the irony of it all now.”

“Well you look perfect to me,” Kunigami said. 

Chigiri blushed, “No time for your cheesy comments,” he tried to sound serious but still smiled at Kunigami’s words. “I need you to take me home.”

“Wait, I’m going to meet your parents now??” he slightly panicked.

“What better time than now?”

“Literally any other time is a better time.”

“Blah, blah, blah, now let’s go.”

“You’re insane.” Kunigami told him.

“That’s too bad cause you’re stuck with me in the long run whether you like it or not!” Chigiri giggled.

“Oh, I think I’ll enjoy it for sure.” Kunigami beamed right back at him.

* * *

So that’s exactly what they did, Kunigami brought Chigiri home that night and he told his parents everything. He started out by apologizing to them for bursting out and leaving the house and then the hardest part was him introducing Kunigami. They were extremely stunned at first, even more stunned then when Chigiri first found out, but that’s no surprise given that they were the ones that raised Chigiri that way after all. It was rough at first, his parents told them both how they needed some time to adjust to the situation and although Chigiri was hurt, he let them be. 

Chigiri started to stay over at Kunigami’s house and they didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse but Kunigami’s family was all over Chigiri. It started off with his parents pestering them both with millions of questions ranging from how they met to when are they getting married. As soon as Kunigami freed Chigiri from his parents' claws, his siblings ran up to him right after that and stole him away. Kunigami pitied him for the hours of hair braiding and dress-up Chigiri will have to go through with those gremlins. All Kunigami heard was a faint “save me” until nightfall arrived and Chigiri came back with a death glare towards him, though it was definitely less threatening than it normally would have been due to Chigiri’s appearance with five braids and glitter covering him.

“Don’t. Say. A. Word.” Chigiri said but Kunigami chuckled anyway.

“You look amazing,” he said, still laughing and wrapped his arms around him.

Chigiri’s parents eventually came around to accept and respect his and Kunigami’s relationship. They gave each of them a sincere apology, and though it took some time, Chigiri ultimately forgave them and they started to rebuild their parent-to-son bond. 

* * *

This brings them to where they are now. Chigiri is sitting in his living room and watching as Kunigami gets tackled by two demon children. Chigiri had to laugh, really. He remembered how his parents put pressure on him to be perfect once he met his soulmate just for the first thing Kunigami caught him doing was crying in a dark alleyway all by himself. It seems like a silly dream now, but that one moment no matter how embarrassing he may have thought it was, gave him this setting, here with his wonderful husband and two kids and the huge smile plastered on his face refused to go down as he looked at them.

Kunigami noticed his glances “What? Is there something on my face?” He was about to walk to a mirror until Chigiri walked towards him and placed his hands on Kunigami’s cheeks.

“No there isn’t, I just love you so much.” He leaned in to kiss the taller male. Kunigami responded back to the kiss with the same care in love. They pulled back from the short, sweet kiss and Kunigami planted another one on his forehead. As Chigiri was about to come in for one last kiss, he heard fake gagging noises from beside them.

“Ewwwwww Daddy and Papa are about to kiss again” one of the kids said while sticking his tongue out.

“Yeah, ewwww, that’s nasty.” The other one joined in on the taunting.

Kunigami grunted “You guys will understand when you grow up, you’ll both find someone who makes you happ-”

“Boringgggggggggg,” the kids responded concurrently.

Chigiri snickered. “I don’t even know why you try, they're just kids, they’ll get it one day.”

Kunigami grumbled in response, “They definitely get that attitude from you.”

“Are you kidding me? They act exactly like your sisters when I first met them.”

“Haha, whatever,” Kunigami tackled him and the both fell on the couch. Chigiri looked at the man hovered above him and wrapped his arms around his torso, never wanting to let go of this feeling, this feeling of being loved.

All these years spent together and Chigiri hasn’t regretted one decision ever. The joyful bickering between Kunigami and his kids, the intense laughter that comes everyday from his household that he feels like he’s about to pass out, the loving and tenderness his family is able to give to him, he wouldn’t trade it for the world. Sure, the soulmate mark seemed like a bother at first, but he was so glad that it was able to lead him to where he is now, to his family, to his kids, to Kunigami, his one true home.

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @RYUUSElGF


End file.
